Leaf stemmer



Jan. 26, 1932. L GOUGH 1,842,868;

LEAF STEMMER Filed Aug.v 1o, i925 2 Sheets-Sheet l Patented Jen. 26, 1932 UNITED s'rarias PATE "JOSEPH GOUGH, oF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, AssiGNoR TOGOUGH sfrEiviiviINs MACHINE Nr oFF-ice CORPORATIONLA CRPORA'I'ION OE" NEW JERSEY LEAF sfrniaiann -Appiiatioa nica Aug-ust 1o, lees. sentirne. 48,208.

My invention relates to. apparatus for stemmingl leaves, that is to say,.remov1ng a considerable part of the large main veins` the butts of the stems preliminary to stemming, consists of a single butting roll operating in conjunction with a iatsurface. Card clothing with a co-acting plate5 close to or bearing against the ends of the clothing teeth or wires, is preferably used to propel the leaves sidevvise and hold them against endwise movement during the butting operation. Preferably also a pair of blade-gripping belts are used in conjunction With `the card clothing.

rlhe mechanism for grabbing and pulling out the stems or veins from the blades consists of a pair of endless belts running at a large ci carries `the leaves through the machine. These may run at a fullriglit angle tothe conveyor mechanism, or at less than a right angle as for a `purpose later described. I find that such mechanism, which takes hold of more and more of the stem or vein as the latter is pulled out of the blade, has considerably less tendency to break the stems than the jaws and rollers that have been used heretofore and which take hold on only a short length of stem. The material of the belts, and likewise the facing of theirsupporting pulleys, may be soft and elastic so as to compensate for differences inV size of the stems and the decreasing thickness of each stem toward the point of the leaf to secure a substantial grip on the 'stems througdioutv the whole or a long length of each one.

Vhile stemming, the bladesof the leaves mayl be retained or stripped by a secondcard clothing which also may be overlaid with a plate Yas at the butting brush. Preferably however, I use upper and lower cooperating card clothing, and I have` made special provision for cleaning the vupper card as hereangle to the conveyor mechanism which after explained. Separate units of card clothing at the butting and stemming stations are preferred to one extended unit forl both stations, both for constructional reasons and because it is preferable that thecard at thestemmer be located somewhat back of the butting card in order that the blades of the leaves may lie principally outside the cardV initially at the stemming station as appearsl hereinafter. Preferably also, in order to eect a clean removal of the entire blade from `its stein with a minimum impairmentof the-v `leaf structure, l provide a roller brush acting to spread the blades away from` the stripper mechanism, i.. e., theV card or `other device.

retainingthe blade while-the stem is` extracted.

Another feature ofimportance is ani-nf I `clined abutment or guide for the leaves at the entrance end ofthe machine to assure the pro-per positioning of the leaves with respect to .the butting and/ or stemming mechanism.

These and other features ofiny inyention l are' shown in the accompanying drawings,

from. which, however, many details of thc A machine not concerned with my invention are omitted and others are merely indicated,vv

Fignrll is a plan view of a machiney in which certain forms ofmy improvements are embodied.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view in elevation of the system of belts of Fig. l..

Fig. 3 isa fragmentary detail in elevation of the butting card clothing with its co-operating spring pressed holding plate; the card clothing and plate at the stemmer station-are similarly arranged. i i

Fig. l is also a detail iii vertical section taken onthefline IV-IV of Fig. 1, drawnv to a larger scale. I f

Fig. is a further vertical detail ofthe stripping mechanism taken on the line Vf-V of Fig. l. r

Fig. ,6' is a plan view of asecond machine embodying certain modificationsl of Vmy invention. i

Fig. 7 is an elevation thereof,`the support ing table structure being omitted.

Fig. 8 is a sectional side view at the stemming station of Fig. (i.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 5: The table 1, forming part of the general supporting structure of the machine, need not be described in detail. ln general it embodies cross members and side frame members 2 and 3 which serve to support the various instrumentalities hereinafter described. including driving shafts 4, 5, and 5a, provided with gears which may be actuated from any suitable source of power, and various idler pulleys or rolls supporting the belts hereafter ment-ioned. AroundV one nair of rolls 6 and 7. of which the roll (i is fast on the shaft 4, runs an endless belt 8 havingriveted to its rear edge an endless card-clothed belt 9 which forms part of the buttingmechanism to be described. At 10 is another card-clothed belt having carding wires or teeth l1 which may be somewhat wider spaced. this card-clothed belt heing riveted to a belt 12 which runs upon the rollers 13 and 14. the latter beingdriven b v the shaft 5. The belt 10 constitutes part of the stripping mechanism at the stemming station.

Other belts may be provided for the requisite feeding and holding of the leaves B. and several such belts are shown` being dcsiarn uated by' the reference characters l5. 16. 17. 18.` 19 and 20. and reference will be made to these belts as occasion requires. l'n the present machine. all the belts. including the cardclothings, move continuously at the same uniform speed in a direction to carry the leaves from left to right in the drawings.

At 77 at the entrance end of the machine. is a vertical guide which is here a stationary plate. The operator lays the leaves on the conveyor belts 15 and 16 with the butts of the stems against the guide` as shown at b1 in Fig. 1: if the leaves are verv long. they will extend onto the conveyor belt 17. The function of a guide plate is to assure the yproper placing of the leaves with respect to the butt-er and stemmer. and for this purpose it is so located that a leaf placed on the conveyor belts with the end of its stem against the guide will be operated on bv both the butting brush and the stem extracting mechanism. It has been found however that the operators are frequently careless and frequently fail to place the stem ends fully against the guide. To overcome this difficulty I have here inclined the guide to the front, that is to say, the left hand end of the guide is placed farther from the front of the machine (i. e., farther from the frame member 3) than the right h and end, and the latter is properly located to introduce the leaves to the butting mechanism. lf now the operator lays a leaf with its stem not quite against the guide, the travel of the leaf with the conveyor belts will bring it against the guide ultimately and the latter will then properly position the leaf on the belts.

The butter 30 is a roller brush of suitable structure set at a slight angle to the travel of the conveyor belts 16 etc., and preferably having a` bevelled leading end 3l to permit the leaves passing easily underneath it. It is shown mounted on a shaft 32 rotatable in a bearing 33 carried by the frame member 2, and having a gear wheel 34 driven by a chain 35 which may be connected in any suitable manner with the driving mechanism of the machine. The roll 30 is mounted to rotate above a stationary hutting surface 36, preferably flat` and which may be a part of the table top 1, elevated if necessary as indicated by the shoulder 37 (Fig. 1) to bring the level of the surface 36 ap}n'oxi1natcly flush with the upper surface of the card-clothed butting belt 9 (see Fig. 4). The brush in rotating presses the leaf stems against the surface 36 and sweeps oill any fragment-s of blade, ctc. that may be on them while the leaf as a whole is held fast on the conveyor belt 16 by upper belt 18, assisted or not by the card 9, but the principal function of the card-clothing 9 is to exert suiiicient traction on the stems to carry them over the table surface 36 and underneath the brush while the latter is operating. The direction of rotation of the brush 30 is indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4. At 38 is a narrow plate serving to cause the leaves to enter the card clothing 9 and to bold them therein. To facilitate the entrance of the leaves this plate may be upturned at its entrance and (left-hand end) and may be slightly inclined downwardly so as to approach closest to the card toward its exit end (see Fig. Preferably the plate is mounted pivotally at 39 upon a bracket 40 carried by the frame member 2 and its free end pressed downwardly by a spring 41 carried by a bracket 42, so that the rear portion of the member 38 is held yieldi'ngly against the ends of the wires of the card-clothing 9. From adjacent the point 44 on the table (or surface 3G) a stationary wire or wires 46 extend to the other side of the stemming mechanism. The butted portions of the leaves 792 slide on top of this wire, and the latter thus supports the ends of the stems while the stems are passing across the gap between the table and the card-clothing 10, and assists in introducing the stems into this card-clothing.

The wire or wires 46 lie between parallel rows of the wires or teeth of the upper run of the card-clothing 10. This card-clothing 10, it will be observed, is a separate unit from the card-clothing 9 and is placed further to the rear (closer to frame member 2) than the clothing 97 so that while it receives the cleaned butts of stems b2 of the leaves leaving 9 and the butting mechanism, the blades of the leaves are substantially entirely in front of and outside the clothing 10. The butts howtitl nsaasce ever project beyond the rear edge of the card.-

clothing Q-the right-hand` edge in Fig. 5)..V

Abo-ve thetop run oftlecard-clothing.10is

end 49 is spring-pressed towardj the cardclothed'stripping belt 10 by means which. may be identical with the parts shown at 41 and j 42 in Fig.l` 3. rllhis end t9-of, the hol-ding plate is broken away intheillustration.however., and its spring bracket. omitted, for the sake ofclearness inillustration. While the` leaves are being carriedsidewi'se with the gstems-pro- ,joetingf-rom the card 10,. the stems pass be tween the cooperating belts and ,51. (.Figsl and 5) the adjacentffaccs of-whichtravel: toV the rear (to the right iii-Fig; 5')y substantially These parallel tothe length of the stems. belts are set. close-enough together to grasp the stems irmly and'pull them to the reara.nd

further are of such width. andv travel at. such a. speed that the stemsyarej completely ex-A tracted while `thefleaves are passingin front of them, the blades` of the leaves being,4 retained by andinore or. less bunched up against the wires etl thecards. 'I iindthat Vthe stems may be adequately extracted by suchA belts altlioughthe. apparent. tendency of the convey` ors-andeards on the onehanchand the belts Y 5Oand151 on the other, are to carrythe blades and stems at right anglesft'o. eachother. The

belts 50 and 51 are mounted on pulleys 52 and 53 l and" other pulleys keyed. to; the shafts 56 .Y and 57, and are driven at equal speeds by the intercoimected` gears. shown, and bythe chain.

58,.which. is connected: to, a power source on the machine.. These pulleys, it will be observed, face the conveyors and stripping means, thatis to say,`their. axes aresubstan.-

ti ally parallel to the edges of. the belts 20, ete.. and thel card 10,50 that 'the adjacent tacesor' runs of the/belts 50 and 51 travel. almost directly atY right angles to the travel of the conveyors, and preferably the bite planev ofv tween the. belts-and be a stembeing ejected. y

The belts may be ofsome rather soft elastic material, such as a` rubber. covered canvas, so

as to accommodate both large andsmall stems and alsoso aszto be able tograsp and exert some tractiononthe middle ofthe stems or veins andeven'farther on toward/their tips,as well as on thebuttsfwhich. are larger'. than the tips. To -the same end the pulleys-52 and: 53- may be covered with orA composed: ot some fairlyy softer lelastic material as .represented by the rubber suntacingat53'. The shaft 53 mayv be mounted. in fixed position and the shaft 52, have m'eansa-t: both ends.l providing adjustable yieldin-gpressure downward as indicated at 55. l have also: provided a mountinggfor the shafts 56vv and 57 which iswell adapted. to the present.purposes.` rllhe shaft'. 5.6 is carried in fxed bearings, not shown, adjustable fore andl aft totight-en the belt51.. The shaft 57,.l1oweverl, ismounted in. brackets A. 59 carried1 on. blocks `6l) y which slide on rockers.62pivotedat 63onthe brackets .64. These extend upward from the frame at. 54 and have adjustingbolts 65` tolimit the movement o-ethe rockersv 62. A set, screw 61 in a slot in. block 60 serves tosecure the block to its; rocker, and another, 66,. serves to push the slide outward and tension the` belt50.. Since the pivot 63 is` above the belt -belt-.), serves not only to. change the tension.

of the belt 50 but also to change the pressure otv the belt 50 on the cooperatingy belt 51. As

stems .are drawn` between. the beltsv however .the upper belt.,50 .may.rse at eitheirendwas.

the thickness ofthe4 stems demand..

To aid in stripping otlt' .the blade, I` have. shownatZO a. roller brush. mounted upon a. shaft Z1 which is journalled; inarms Z2 (one is omittedfrom-,theillustration) These arms. arezcarriedrby. the brackets 64 and the brush.4 is. driven by a. chain 73. running to a gear' 7 1. uponithc shaft 561;. the brush' turns in the, direction indicated by the arrow. in Fig.. 5.`

mor.

Thebrush strikes theleaves just. in lfront ofV `the plate 45,. as indicated in llligs.` 1. and 5 where, itV will. be observed, itztends to spread out: the blades of theleavcs during the strippingoperation', and facilitate the stripping action. l. Y Y j Alfter leaving stemmiu g station. the blades are received. underneath. the belt, 20 which presses them somewhat against' the belt` 19,. pulling theml loose` from the card. belt 10. the latter tunns down and carry-ing thency off the. right-band end .ofthe machine. The wire onwires 46 may alsorassist in releasing the blades fromzthe card 10, inte'which the blades are Ordin air-.ily pulledV somewhat, and for this purpose this wire exten ds to the right beyond. the pulley 18as sh ownin Fig. 1.

Referring now to Figs.. 6,. 7 and 8, which show another machine embodyingl certain modiiications-of my invention:r As in the precedinE figures there isratable oreeneral su D C 7 C porting4 structure 1 with sideframe members 2 and andi supporting endrolls 80 and 81` to-carryf. the conveyor-belts 82 andi 8-3- which extendtheentire length of the machine; these belts also extend around the rolls 84.- and underneath the table, and the roll 84 is usually the driven roll which causes the belts to move continuously at a uniform rate. In this ymodification the guide at the entrance end of the machine is in the form of a vertical belt 86 mounted on rollers 87 which may be -driven in any suitable manner so that the forward or leaf-engaging face of the belt 86 travels in the same direction and at the same speed as the conveyor belts. A fixed vertical supporting plate 90 may be used to support this .front run of the belt 86, which is inclined to 4the front like the guide 77 of the preceding figures, that is to say, the right hand end of this forward run of the belt 8G is closer to the main conveyors and frame member 3 than the lefthand end. The belt 8G* thus serves to assure the proper placing of the leaves on the conveyor mechanism, and inasmuch as it travels along on the conveyors and leaves I regard it as preferable to a fixed guide. No butting mechanism is shown in the machine of these Figs. 6, 7 and 8 (although one may be used if desired, as illustrated in Fig. 1) for I have found that the endless belts which I use for grabbing and pulling out the stems are adequate for extracting the stems even when the latter are not previously cleaned of blade etc. Usually I also use a short flat belt 91, extending from the entrance end of the machine to the card belt at the butter, or at the stemming station, as the case may be, to support and carry the butt ends of the leaves; this may be mounted on the rollers 80 and 92 and driven by the roller 80, which is driven by the belts 82 and 83. A smaller belt 93 may be placed still further to the rear, back of the belt 91, to further support the leaf butts; this belt may be cylindrical (i n cross section) and whatever its shape it may extend back of the leaf supports at the butting or stemming stations and thus bridge the gap between the belt 91 and these supports. This is illustrated in the present machine where the belt 93 is placed back of the card-clothin gs 105 and 107 and is supported on the rollers 80 and 9G, the latter being one of the rollers which supports the card clothing 105.

The mechanism for grasping and pulling out the leaf stems consists as before of two parallel belts 97 and 98. These belts, together with the mechanism which supports and drives them, are substantially like the belts 50 and 51 and the associated mechanism of the preceding figures. As before also, the stemextra cting belts are arranged substantially at right angles to the conveyor belts. However, with the stem extracting belts arranged exaetly at right angles to the conveyor belts, as

illustrated in the preceding figures, there is a tendency for some of the leaf stems to bend over and follow along the belts 50 and 51 (from left to right) without entering their bite. To avoid this the stem extracting belts may be somewhat displaced from the right angle relation previously described, so that while the forward end (left-hand end in Fig. 6) of the bite is properly located to receive the most protruding stems, the opposite (right-hand) end is located somewhat closer to the strippin r means and conveyor, that is to say, the bit@ of the stem extractors is inclined forward or to the front. This is illustrated in Figs. 6 and 8, in which, it will be observed, the belts and pulleys 100, 101, 102 and 103 are inclined to the edge of the belt 82, approaching somewhat nearer the edge of the belt 82 at the exit (right-hand) end than at the opposite end, and in fact at their right hand ends the front rollers and 101 respectively may slightly overhang and underhang the cards 107 and 105. This inclination of the belts 97 and 98 causes the stems to be carried deeper into mouth between the belts as it were, as they are carried sidewise by the conveyor mechanism and cards and 107 of the stripping mechanism, and tends to insure the grabbing of the stems. Like the belts 50 and 51, the belts 97 and 98 are made of adequate width and are driven at adequate speed to extract those stems which fail to be grasped by the belts until after they have passed some distance along their mouth. Also like the belts 50 and 51, the belts 97 and 98 may be driven continuously at a uniform speed and pull. out the stems while the leaves are moving sidewise.

The stripping mechanism in this modification contains a lower belt of card clothing 105 mounted on and driven by the rollers or pulleys 96 and 10G, and in general resembling the card clothing 10 of Fig. 1 and its mounting. Underneath the upper run of the card clothing 105 may be a fixed cross member or table top 104 te maintain the clothing in position against any downward thrust upon it. Either one of the rollers 96 or 106 may be driven in any suitable way, so that the card clothing 105 travels at the same speed as the conveyor belts 82 and 88, However, in the place of the overlying plate 19 of the preceding figures, I prefer to employ a second or upper belt of card clothing 107 supported on suitable pulleys, such as 108, 109, 110, and 111, any one of which may be driven to move the belt 107 at the same speed as the card 105 (the adjacent runs of the two cards move in the same direction), or the card 107 may be driven by the engagement of its wires or teeth with the wires or teeth of the card clothing 105. The pulleys carrying the card 107 may be mounted on a suitable frame 118, and an adjustable plate 114 may be used to prevent the lower run of the clothing 107 from being thrust upward by the leaf blades between it and the lower clothing 105. Of the two lower pulleys, the lower entrance pulley 109 is placed slightly higher than the exit pulley 110, these two pulleys being so V.arranged that lthe two card clothings are separated slightly at the entrance end, as

`shown in Fig. 7 but come togetherwiththeir teeth or wires intermeshing oppositethe belts 97 and-98. VThis permits the readyentrance zofthevleaves into the teeth, or Wires ot the .two

.card clothings where the blades -W-ill be retained `While. the `stems arebeing extracted by the belts 97 and 98. Thecposition, lor even the `presence of the pnl-ley 108is animmatevrial matter. The pulley 111, however, is-preferably located: somewhat tothe rear ,(to `the .rightin FglT) ,of the, exitgpulley 110,50 that Vley 111.

thecard clothing 107..-depa1ts from the lower card 105 atan acute angleand faces. downing wires. This drum maybe driven (preferably counter-clockwise in Fig. 7) inany suitableemanner, as by 'thebelt 116,and'its bristles or wires,lpenetrate'obetween the Wires 107 and ythus `sweep oil" the bits ofleaf and stem'therein. These tall onto the clothing 105 in thepresent yinstance and iarecast off the latter where the card 105 turns around vthe drum 106. `Also I have provided a brush 0r wired drum 1117 `for similarly cleaning the card 105. Thisucleanin-g brushor drumfis likewise located underneath its l card clothing, namely, in the .present instancenearthe beginning of thelower runofthe clothing 105. To strip the blades from the upper card clothing, l have provided one or moreiwires or rods like 118, which has an upturned :torward end 119 so `tha-tithe leaves pass beneath it, Yanda horizontalfstraight length :parallel with `the lower run oifithe clothing107 `for some distance of botlrsidesV ofthe Apulley 110.

As the clothing 107 moves-upward Ltherefore from pulley 110 toward pulley111,tl1e blades ofthe leaves are held down byv theivvre or wires 118 `and thus extracted "from the clothing 1,07. In the present instance Vthe blades are positively. extracted `from -the clothing 105, so-ar as necessary, byv means of V:upper belt 120 which lies above the rear end yof the conveyor belt. 82 and issupportedfonsuitable pulleys as shown, one ofwhich may be-driven so that the opposite runs yof this beltand belt 82 travel in the same direction at thesame speed. The adjacent runs of these two. belts are naturally in contactfjor so close together that thestemmed blades are confined between the two belts andthus retained on the conveyor 82'as the cardl105`turns around the drum 106. The stemmedblades ar-e iinally droppedas the belt A82 turns around the pulley or drum 81, anda Wire or lro'd121, upturned at its forward end asrshownin'lFig. 7, so that the blades lwill passfbeneatlr it,A aids in stripping the leaves oltthe belt 120 sof far as Amay be necessary, and -causmgA themhto drop as the belt 82 turns around the drum 81.

It willbe observed that toitake care .Ofand .carry alongthe-extreme tips of theleaves, r,I

have found it unnecessary toeXtendthe-Width of the belts 82 (or the belts 82 and 83,) `toxthe .tips ofthe longest leaves, but I have found' .itpossible to make this belt, lorvthese belts.,

of moderate-width and employ a muchsmaller belt, ior exam-ple 1 a fbelt `small and cylindrical in .cross-sectiomfas indicated at 122,.to support theleafftips. It Aisgunnecessary to extendthis beltto the right ofthe stemming station, inasmuch .as the Lbunching .up ofV the ,blades i `during .stemming withdraws J the leaf tips wellontovthe-belts 82 and It has beenpointed out beorethatzthemachines illustrated are intendedv to operateas `continuous.machines, .that is to say, thecon- .veyo-r belts (20 etc. lof F ig. ,1andf82 etc. v.of

Fig. 6) move continuously at a uniformspeed from left to right in the drawingsyand like- .Wlise .the extractor 4belts v50-51 and-9711+198 and the rvariousbrushes move or .rotate :continuously inthe directionsindicated. The

leaves Jare put on the conveyor belts seriatijm at `the lefthand 4end yand .butted-(iin F ig. 1.) and stemmed (in both igureslas v.they move along` .jsidewise to `the right the stemmed leaves are dropped at the righthand` end-of lthe machinegand the stemsat therear.

j lIt `will also be understood that my `invention isA `not limited to the details illustrated and described herein, except-.as appears inftlle following claims:

1., Infal leatstemming machine, meansor operatingon the vleaves and. engaging one,l @Il d thereof, card clothing toengage thei'leaveslin coa-ction therewith, `and a- Iplzvtteflike member to .retaintheleaves in the `teeth of said card clothing. i j 2. The subject vmatterfof claim 1,chanacterized the fact that thev .plate device is yieldingly held toward the card clothing zandathat its .entrance end is `further.fnomsaid card clothing than Iitsexit end. f 3. jIn a-lea-,stemming machine, an endless belt and-a cooperatiiig-,surfaceiadapted` toreceivethe leafstemsbetween them and withdraw the Vsame from the .le-affblades','fa1rd means to 'retain the blades, said.-endlessbelt moving substantially `parallel to thelength of the stem.

4. 'Ina leaf-stemming.machine, lmeans `for conveying the' leaves substantially sidewise,

being withdrawn, said endless belt being set at such an angle to the leaf stems that the single belt and its cooperating surface suflice to extract the leaf stems.

G. In a leaf-stemming machine, blade retaining means, and a pair of endless belts adapted to receive the stems and draw the stems from the blades held by the blade-retaining means, said belts travelling substan tially parallel to the length of the stem i 7. In a. leaf-stemming machine, endless belt blade retaining means moving continuously and carrying the leaves bodily substan tially sidewise, and a pair of cti-operating endless belts adapted to receive the butts therebetween and draw the stems from the blades retained by said means, said pair of belts travelling substantially at right angles to the movement of the blade retaining means.

8. In a leaf-stemming machine, means to retain the blades, and a pair of endless belts adapted to receive the stems bet y'een them# selves and draw the stems from 'the blades, said belts being made of a somewhat soft material so as to accommodate stems of different diameters.

9. In a leaf-stemming machine, means to retain the blades, and a pair of endless belts adapted to receive the stems therebetween and draw the stems from the blades, one of said belts being yieldingly supported to move bodily to and from the other belt.

10. In a leaf-stemming machine, means to retain the blades, a pair of endless belts adapted to receive the stems therebetween and draw the stems from the blades, and means to support one of said belts comprising` a plurality of shafts adjustable relative to each other lengthwise of the belt to change its tension and a pivoted support for one of said shafts, the said one of the belts being between the pivot of said support and the other belt.

11. In a leaf-sten'nning m chine, means to retain the blades, and a pair of endless belts adapted to receive the stems therebetween and draw the stems from the blades, one of said belts having its intake end mounted upon a shaft yieldable to and from the intake end of the other belt, and having its delivery end mounted upon a shaft journalled upon a rocker mounted pivotally upon the frame of the machine, the said one of the belts being located between the pivot of said rocker and the other belt.

12. In a leaf-stemming machine, moving blade-retaining means carrying the leaves bodily substantially sidcwise, and means for grasping and pulling out the leaf stems while l the leaves are being moved bodily sidewise,

the bite of the last mentioned means being substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the first mentioned means.

y 13. In a leaf-stemming machine, means for engaging the stems to withdraw them substantially lengthwise from the leaf blades, a pair of op positely-facing cooperating toothed belts to retain the blades while the stems are being withdrawn, one being superposed on the other, said superposed belt departing from the lower belt at an acute angle, and means acting on the superposed belt at this portion which is located at an acute angle to clean that belt.

14. In a leaf-stemming machine, the combination of superposed toothed belt members receiving the leaves and carrying them along, and means for extracting the leaves from the upper member comprising a Wire-like member placed at one side of and extending to the exit end of said upper member and having its forward end raised so that the leaves pass underneath it.

15. Iller a leaf-stemming machine, butting mechanism for leaves comprising a rotating roller brush rotating about a lixed axis, a substantially flat stationary surface against which the brush works the butts of the leaves, and a continuously moving toothed member receiving the leaves within its teeth and conveying the leaves between said brush and surface while the brush is in operation.

16. In a leaf-stemming machine, means to engage the stems and withdraw the same endwise from the leaf blades, means to retain the blades and strip them from tl e stems, and a roller brush driven in a direction to brush the blades away from the blade-retaining means to spread the blades away from said blade-retaining means while the stems are being withdrawn.

17. In a leaf-stemming machine, means to engage the stems and withdraw the same endwise, means to retain the blade while the stems are being withdrawn comprising a pair of co-operating belts of card clothing, and means to drive one of said belts, the other of said belts being driven by the engagement of its teeth or wires with the teeth or wires of the first.

18. In a leaf-stemming machine, stemming mechanism comprising means for pulling out the stems and mechanism to retain the blades. conveyor mechanism for the leaves, a part of the conveyor mechanism terminating at the entrance to said blade-retaining mechanism, and a small belt located back of said conveyor mechanism and said blzule-retaining mechanism to support and carry the butts of the leaves to the stemming mechanism.

19. In a continuously operating leafstemming machine, a pair of cooperating belts having card clothing to engage the leaves and carry them laterally while the stems are being extracted, means to drive one of said belts continuously, the other of said belts being driven continuously by the engagement of its teeth with the teeth of the belt driven by saidV means, and means to pull the stems from the blades. while the leaves are being carried laterally by said belts.

20. In a leaf-stemming machine, stemming means comprising a pair of belts to engage and retain the leaf blades while the stems are being extractedand means to engage and pullthe stems from 'the blades, a conveyor for the body parts of the leaves to carry the leaves to said stemming means, and a small belt located back of said pair of belts to carry the butts of the leaves to said pair of belts.

2l. In a leaf-stemming machine, blade-retaining means, and a pair of endless belts adapted to receive the stems and draw the stems from the blades held by the blade-retaining means, said belts travelling at a very large angle to the direction of movement of the blade-retaining means. Y

22. In a leaf-stemming machine, continuously moving blade-retaining means carrying the leaves bodily substantially sidewise, and a pair of (ro-operating endless belts adapted to receive the butts therebetween and draw the stems from the blades retained by said means, the bite of said pair of belts being slightly inclined forwardly so that the end of said bite toward which the leaves apwith and in th belt.

In testimon specification. Y

proach is further from said blade-retaining,

means than the end of said bite fromV which the blades depart.

23. In a leaf-stemming machine, continuously-moving blade-retaining means carrying the leaves substantially sidewise, and a cooperating endless belt and a surface adapted to receive the leaf butts for pulling the stems from the blades as the latter are retained by said means, said belt travelling nearly parallel to the lengths of saidstems and having with said surface a bitewhich is slightly inclined forwardly.

24. In a leaf-stemming machine, the combination of means for retaining the blades, and means for pulling the stems from the blades, the bite of said pulling means being nearly at right angles to the length of the stems, but slightly inclined forwardly to the direction of movement of the leaves in approaching the bite. Y

25. In a leaf-stemming machine, the combination with stemmer means for grasping and extracting the stems from the blades, a transfer belt on which the leaves are laid by the operator and which convey the leaves toward said stemmer means, said belt permitting the leaves to be shifted thereon readily at the entrance end of the machine, and an inclined guide at the side of said transfer at the entrance end of the machine, said guide being inclined toward said transfer to correctly position the leaves on the transfer and said guide being a belt substantially at right angles to the transfer belt and moving e same direction as the transfer y whereof, I have signed this JOSEPH GOUGH. 

